The FWS has several ongoing programs involving management and acquisition of 

 wetlands. The two primary funding sources are: the Migratory Bird Conservation 

 Fund Act, and the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act (J. W. Hardy, FWS, 

 Vicksburg, MS, personal communication). The major agency objective is wetlands 

 preservation through a variety of federal, state, and private land control mechanisms. 

 Many hectares have been preserved and many others are planned for inclusion under 

 a wide variety of FWS wetland habitat preservation activities. A majority of these 

 lands are under the control of the National Wildlife Refuge System, and total more 

 than 4 million hectares (9.9 million acres) covering many wetland types. * 



While there are no titled programs as such, the National Park Service, the Forest 

 Service, and the National Marine Fisheries Service also are managing and protecting 

 wetland areas under their control.^ Each agency is providing for implementation of 

 wetlands policy according to its own authority and mission. 



The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (CE) and the U.S. Environmental Protection 

 Agency (EPA) are jointly charged with the responsibility of regulating the discharge 

 of dredged or fill material into the waters of the U.S. Both agencies have developed 

 wetlands research programs and are actively involved in the implementation of the 

 404 Regulatory Program. 



Because the CE is required to perform many dredging projects in order to maintain 

 navigation, and because many million cubic meters of dredged material must be 

 disposed of yearly, often within wetland areas, the agency carried out the $32 million, 

 5-year Dredged Material Research Program (DMRP). The DMRP concluded in 

 1978 after accumulating a wealth of information concerning environmental aspects 

 of dredged material disposal.* Part of this program addressed wetland creation and 

 development using dredged material substrates. The Dredging Operations Technical 

 Support (DOTS) Program was initiated after the DMRP to provide assistance to the 

 CE districts and divisions (and others related to CE activities) in using DMRP 

 results. DOTS also includes continued monitoring of selected wetland development 

 field sites and wetland criteria development. DOTS is managed by the U.S. Army 

 Engineer Waterways Experiment Station (WES), Vicksburg, Mississippi. 



Other CE programs involving wetlands research, but not necessarily development 

 and protection, are the Environmental and Water Quality Operational Studies 

 Program, which studies freshwater aquatic, riverine, lake, and marsh habitats 

 (managed by WES); the Wetlands Research Program (managed by WES), which is 

 providing wetlands criteria assistance to CE districts and divisions in the identi- 

 fication and delineation of wetlands; the Recreation Research Program (managed by 

 WES); the Environmental Action Program (managed by the Institute of Water 

 Resources, Fort Belvoir, Virginia); and the Coastal Ecology Program (managed by 

 the Coastal Engineering Research Center, Fort Belvoir, Virginia). Section 150 of the 

 Public Law 94-587 authorizes the CE to plan and establish wetland areas as a part of 

 authorized water resources development projects. 



WETLANDS HABITAT DEVELOPMENT 



The concepts and practices of habitat development have evolved from protection 

 of existing habitats, through planting food crops and water elevation control for 

 waterfowl, to construction of wetlands where none previously existed. Presently, the 

 art of building new wetlands or restoring previously disturbed wetlands is fairly well 

 advanced, and is being practiced in locations throughout the United States. 



State Efforts 



The development and management of wetlands by the states has historically 

 involved game animals that included wetlands as part of their habitat requirements; 

 however, in recent years increasing attention has been paid to a wide range of wetland 

 values. Among many notable examples of recent wetlands research and management 



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